A Bad Idea
by Azulia
Summary: When Kagome insists Inuyasha come with her to modern Japan for the new moon, Inuyasha is sure it's the worst idea that he's ever heard. Chaos ensues. NOW EDITED! *Nominated at the Feudal Association for Best Oneshot!


Disclaimer: Inuyasha characters, settings and plot belong to the sole owner and original author of the series. No money is being made from the production of this piece. Any original characters, settings or plot belong to the fanfiction writer, Azulia, and are not to be reproduced without express permission.

A/N- For the sake of this story, please assume the Eri, Yuka and Ayumi have never previously met Inuyasha.

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**A Bad Idea**

"Keh, this is stupid woman," Inuyasha said as he watched the retreating backs of the rest their group. Kagome had convinced the others to go on without them. He wished they had not been so easily swayed by the smallish girl who always seemed to get what she wanted.

Inuyasha scowled to himself. This was a bad idea. A _very_ bad idea. He should be on his way with Sango and Miroku, off to slay things and save people. Instead, Kagome had decided to completely disregard his wishes and push him into this cockamamie scheme of hers.

As usual.

Kagome was busy packing up her big yellow backpack and was not really paying him or his attitude any attention. Typical woman, he thought, now that she was getting her way she barely noticed he was around. Wench.

"Will you help me carry this?" she asked, almost nicely, indicating to her backpack.

"No," he said stubbornly. She had already conned him once today, he certainly wasn't going to do her any favors.

Kagome sighed and tried to heave the monstrous thing up to put it on her back. She struggled with it, and it was no wonder, the thing weighed more than most small children. Inuyasha watched as she tried, and failed, to put it on. They both knew that he was going to help her, that this was just his way of dealing with not getting his way, but he waited until he heard a few seams pop before he stepped in to be chivalrous.

"Give it here wench," he said angrily. "If you're gonna keep being a weak human then you've really gotta stop packing so much junk."

Kagome flashed a look of anger at him. She was cute when she was mad.

"It isn't my junk," she said defensively, annoyance apparent in her clear brown eyes. "Most of the stuff in here is laundry from Miroku and Sango, not to mention all our trash from traveling, including your ramen bowls, mister!"

The threat hung lightly in the air after she said it.

Inuyasha chose not to take her comment too seriously. She was always threatening him with ramen and potato chips. He refused to get worked up about it because he knew her too well. Kagome might "sit" him two dozen times in a row, but she would never stop bringing him his favorite snacks. It wasn't her nature.

… and those "sits" hurt pretty bad sometimes, too. He cringed thinking about them. Maybe he would rather go without the ramen...

Inuyasha shook his head and brought himself back from the tangent he had gone off on. Kagome was still staring at him expectantly and he was just standing there like an idiot.

He, realizing this, quickly snatched up her bag and put it on his own shoulders. Once he got it on and adjusted he turned around and looked at her with a face that let her know very blatantly he was still not pleased.

She sighed.

"I wish you wouldn't look at me like I just spit on you or something," Kagome said as she started walking towards the well.

"Have you?" he asked bluntly looking down at himself. He supposed she was prone to all sorts of crazy things when she was angry like she had been earlier, when he tried to express just what a bad idea this was.

"You know I haven't," she said defensively with her back to him.

"Keh." He let himself contemplate the complexities of womanhood as they walked along in silence. There was a riddle he was sure he would never solve. He lagged behind her on purpose, he wasn't to keen on gracing her with his presence, given his current mood.

Kagome stopped as she reached the top of the hill so he could catch up to her. Inuyasha stopped when she did and looked at her. She looked back.

Kagome threw her hands up in exasperation as she figured out what he was doing.

"So you're going to punish me by tromping behind me like a stalker?"

Inuyasha snorted at her and lifted his head a little higher. "I'm not punishing anybody, wench," he said with a small growl. "If anyone is being punished, it's me!"

Kagome eyed him wearily.

"I don't think this quite qualifies as punishment, Inuyasha," she said it as if she were tired. As if they had talked about this before and she was sick of trying to convince him. Which, he reasoned, she probably was, but that wasn't his fault. Just because he was not dumb enough to agree with her like all the others, did not mean he was purposefully being obstinate. It just meant he knew a hairy-brained idea when he heard one.

"Which part doesn't qualify as punishment?" Inuyasha asked dumbly, trying to keep up with her train of thought. "The part where I have to do whatever you want, or the part where I don't really get a say?"

She started walking again. "No one forces you down the well," she called back to him.

"Keh," he said miserably. It was true, she was not forcing him per se, but he knew that if he didn't do what she wanted that she would go out of her way to make sure he knew it. Then the others would take her side and treat him like some sort of villain too. Not that he cared or anything, it was just the principle of it all.

There really was just no wining with this one.

"Everyone else thought it was a good idea," she said from ahead of him in defense of her silly little plan.

Inuyasha looked at her as if her head just popped out a third eye.

"Yesterday they were all sure it was going to rain today too," he said jerking his head up, trying to make a point. "Look up Kagome, there's not a fluffy white cloud in the whole damn sky."

He noticed she didn't respond to that.

It was too bad he had to go with her to her strange era. If he wasn't going to be fighting or cavorting around he would to have liked to enjoy the nice day. The air was warm, and the grass was cool everything smelled like sunshine and earth. It would have been nice to sit around and relax.

But noooooo, he had to go to Tokyo instead.

"How are you doing back there?" Kagome yelled impatiently from where she was waiting for him at the well. She had gotten pretty far beyond him, but he was not exactly in a hurry to go back to that smelly place.

"I'm doing just fine, thanks," he yelled back, probably louder than he needed too. He could see her shifting her weight back and forth from foot to foot. She was excited to get home.

A part of him, a very small part, felt bad for his behavior. She was always so happy about going home, he didn't want to make it any less special for her...

...but by the way she was starting to tap her foot he very seriously doubted that he was having any sort of impact on her at all, besides making her nuts.

"Come on, Inuyasha," she said with a hint of aggravation in her voice. "I want to get home in enough time to have dinner with my family.

He picked up his pace just enough to be noticeable. She rolled her eyes.

Eventually, he did make it to the well.

"Glad you could make it," Kagome said dryly. He eyed her wearily. She smiled.

"Well," she said after a moment of him looking like that at her. "Jump on in."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. That was weird. Usually she went first.

Then it hit him.

"You're making me go first because you don't trust me to follow you!"

"...not really."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Whatever happened to 'no one forces you down the well, Inuyasha?'"

"Well, I'm still not technically forcing you."

Inuyasha growled a little under his breath.

"Well, it's not like you can blame me with how you've been acting," Kagome argued gently. "You act like I'm asking you to kill a puppy or something."

"Hey," Inuyasha said stiffly, "I don't appreciate the puppy reference."

"Well, it wasn't directed at you like that!" Kagome said with offense.

"Whatever, wench."

Kagome glared at him. Inuyasha privately thought she was cute with her little outfit , with her little scowl, with her little hands on her hips. It was amazing how she could put her whole self into being frustrated with him.

Kami, she was going to be the death of him.

He shifted his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"It's not like it matters anyway," he said stiffly. "I'm not such a low life that I'd let you jump into the well and then run away like a coward."

...not that it was the worst plan he had ever heard of either.

Then, partially because he was offended and partially because he was sick of fighting, he jumped into the well without giving Kagome much of a chance to respond.

Maddening woman, he thought as he went.

The familiar glowing light engulfed him and he enjoyed the feeling of being weightless for a few moments. It always made him just a little nervous to float around like that. Really, it was a bit unnerving.

Before he had time to analyze the freakishness of it all he found himself once again in the bottom of the old well. It was Kagome's time, he was sure. The smells in the air were all unnatural and dirty, everything smelled metallic and there was noise coming from all directions.

His ears twitched. It was going to be a long few days. This was a no good, very bad, terrible, stupid idea.

Inuyasha jumped out of the well quickly. He did not want Kagome to land on him again. Sure, she did't weigh very much, but she sure was boney, and all those bones seemed to find his most sensitive areas. That happened last time and apparently some of his parts had come into contact with hers because he received a "sit." He still was not sure what he had touched, but he knew while his body could take the damage, his ego certainly could not.

He was waiting at the top of the well when the tell-tale light appeared below him. Inuyasha deposited the backpack by the well and leaned over to see Kagome straightening herself in the darkness.

"You need help, wench?" he asked, thinking he should just let her struggle her way up for making him go through with this crazy scheme in the first place.

"Please?" Kagome called from below him. "It would make it much faster."

Inuyasha jumped back in, making very sure of where he would be landing before he lept. He scooped her up in his arms, not wanting to wait for her to climb onto his back, and jumped back out again.

"Thanks, Inuyasha," Kagome said brightly as he set her down on her feet. She made it kind of hard to stay mad at when she beamed at him like that.

"Whatever," he said nonchalantly. He was not quite ready to forgive and forget this whole fiasco yet. He did, however, grab her backpack without being asked and waited for her to finish brushing off her clothes so he could follow her into the house.

Follow he did. By the way she walked he could tell she was happy. She had a little bounce in her step and a twinkle in her eye. He knew she missed her mother and brother and even the old man and the cat. Normally he did not mind coming back here. He could understand wanting to go home to a place where you belonged, where people waited for you and looked forward to seeing you. It was just that tonight the only place he wanted to be was alone curled up in a cave or a hut somewhere far away where anyone could find him..

But, according to her, this was better.

He sighed.

"Kagome!" called her mother. She was sitting in the garden, pulling weeds and putting them into a basket next to her. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Mama!" Kagome called and ran to her mother's opened arms. Inuyasha smiled to himself, it was nice to see Kagome get to be the girl she deserved to be instead of the adult that the feudal era had forced her to become. The two women embraced and Inuyasha let his ears droop a little.

Maybe, this whole time, him coming here was about her, not him.

...or maybe she just wanted to punish him. It was hard to tell.

"-we came home a little later than normal because of the new moon, Inuyasha is going to be human tonight so I wanted him here where there is less chance we'll be attacked-"

Inuyasha overheard Kagome tell that to her mother and his eyes grew wide. What, he thought to himself, is she just announcing it to everybody now?

"-I know you must have been worried, but this means that I'll get to stay for a little bit longer, so I thought it was worth the trade off-"

He sighed. This was example number one of why he thought this thing was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Oi, wench" he yelled at her. "Mind just who you're telling my business to, alright?"

Kagome paused to look over at him. She smiled.

"Thanks Inuyasha," she said back cheerfully, completely ignoring his statement. "You can take my backpack up to my room."

He balked, but finding nothing no other feasible plan of action, started to take the backpack into the house and up to her room. What else was he going to do, besides prepare for the worst?

"Inuyasha!" said a happy voice. Inuyasha looked up just in time to see Souta running down the stairs to greet him. He jumped the last three steps and Inuyasha managed to catch him without dropping the backpack or puncturing anything with his claws.

"What are you doing?" Souta asked excitedly. "Whatever it is, I'll help."

Inuyasha looked down at the younger boy.

"I'm just taking this to Kagome's room-" Inuyasha told him, looking up the stairs.

"Great!" said Souta with a big smile. "I can help with that!"

Souta grabbed the backpack from Inuyasha and proceeded to drag it across the floor to the stairs where he heaved it on to the first step with all his might. Inuyasha smiled to himself. Kagome's little brother was almost as crazy as she was. The little runt was nuts.

"Uh, Souta?" asked Inuyasha carefully. "Why don't we do it together?"

Souta looked up at Inuyasha gratefully.

"Okay!"

Inuyasha walked up the steps grabbed Souta, who was carrying the backpack, and carried them both up the stairs to Kagome's room. By the time he got there Souta was laughing and playing with his ears. Inuyasha threw him on the bed with the bag, which seemed to make him even happier.

"That was too fun!" Souta laughed, there were tears in his eyes.

Inuyasha looked at him funnily.

"What was so fun about it?" he asked.

"I don't know," Souta admitted with tears of mirth in his eyes.

Crazy.

"Uh, okay," Inuyasha said with a shrug. As long as the kid was happy, he guessed it was alright.

Souta collected himself and looked at Inuyasha with big brown eyes just like his sisters.

"Are you busy right now?" Souta asked pleasantly.

"Nope," Inuyasha said, thinking of the dull evening ahead of him, where Kagome would study and he would probably lay around and torment the cat.

"Good," said Souta coming closer to him and lowering his voice to a whisper. "'Cause I have something I want to show you."

Inuyasha looked at Souta hard.

"Is this going to be like the time you showed me how the toy-lett worked and you ended up shoving my head in it?" he asked bluntly. That had not been fun. His hair had smelled off for days.

"No," said Souta dramatically. "This is waaaay better. Can you keep a secret?"

"...sure I can."

Souta looked at him seriously.

"Alright," he said. "But first you have to take an oath."

"An oath?"

"Yes."

Inuyasha did not like the idea of taking an oath, but if this secret required one then it must be good.

"Alright," he agreed after a moment of contemplation.

"Okay," said Souta waking back over to Kagome's bed so he could climb up and standing on it. "First you have to put your hand over your heart."

Souta demonstrated. He stood up very tall and put a very serious look on his face.

Inuyasha mimicked him.

"Now," Souta stated without a trace of humor, "repeat after me."

Inuyasha nodded his understanding, silently contemplation what could be so secretive.

"I, Inuyasha," Souta started.

"I, Inuyasha," Inuyasha repeated back.

"-do so solemnly swear that I, upon pain of death and torture, will not divulge to a soul what I am about to be shown."

Inuyasha hesitated, that sounded pretty nasty, but Souta gave him a look and he repeated it.

"- I also swear that I will not tell Kagome, because she will get very mad and probably rat us out to Mama, then we'll really get in trouble-"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. He did not like the idea of swearing to keep something from Kagome. Souta could apparently see that, and because he was dying to show someone, he rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said exasperated, looking just like his sister. "You can at lease swear that you won't tell her unless absolutely necessary."

Well, that was better.

"I swear I won't tell Kagome what you're about to show me unless it's absolutely necessary," Inuyasha told him.

"And," Souta said putting extra emphasis on the word and crossing his heart, "if I break this promise I hope to die."

"Didn't we go over the death part in the beginning?" Inuyasha asked mildly. Souta looked at him pointedly.

Inuyasha looked to the ceiling and wondered what Kami out there was punishing him and what he had done to deserve it.

"And," Inuyasha said crossing himself, "if I break this promise I hope to die."

Souta jumped off the bed in excitement.

"Excellent," he said impishly. "Now you're ready!"

He grabbed Inuyasha's clawed hand and led him out of Kagome's bedroom and down the hall to his. It was a lot like Kagome's, but instead of pink being everywhere, blue was on the walls and fabrics. Inuyasha idly thought that if he had a bedroom, he'd probably do it in red.

Souta sat Inuyasha down in a stiff chair at a writing desk in front a glowing box. Inuyasha recognized the box, they had another one downstairs in the living room. It showed moving pictures.

"This is my computer," Souta said proudly. "I got it for my birthday because of all my good grades."

Inuyasha looked from the boy to the box. This was the kid's idea of a secret?

It just confirmed what he already thought. The whole family was out there. It was hereditary.

"It's...really nice, Souta," he said slowly. "Are you afraid Kagome would get jealous if she knew you had one?"

Souta snorted. "With her grades? The only way she's getting one of these babies is if she starts selling drugs or black market babies or something."

"Babies?" Inuyasha asked, alarmed.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha, she wouldn't have to have them, just sell them."

"Oh, okay."

"Anyway," Souta said, grabbing a round smooth thing clicking around. "This is what I wanted to show you."

And without delay, a picture popped up.

Inuyasha's eyes grew wide.

"Uh," he said slowly, kind of in shock. "I think we should turn this thing off."

Souta looked at him hurt. "Why?" he asked. "Don't you want to see?"

Inuyasha looked at the ceiling again. A very bad idea, and it wasn't even night yet.

There, on the box, were naked women. Lots of them. All in various states of undress and in the process of different sexual acts with faceless men. They all had different colored hair and skin and...other things, but there was one thing Inuyasha thought they all had in common.

"It's just...dishonorable is all." Inuyasha said, after awhile, not making eye contact with the young man.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Souta asked, red. He was clearly embarrassed. This was not the reaction he expected.

"Well runt," Inuyasha started, thinking that he was the worst person in the world for this conversation. "It's like this, I guess. Would you want someone looking at naked pictures of you?"

"N-no," Souta admitted.

"I'm betting these wenches feel the same way," Inuyasha said, glancing at the computer. "They just do this stuff because they have to, it's an easy way out if they fall on hard times. Just because they're smiling, it don't mean they're happy."

"You've seen this stuff before?" Souta asked awkwardly. "I guess I didn't think they had this in the feudal era."

Inuyasha snorted. "Trust me kid, they've had this stuff since the beginning of time."

"...they don't look unhappy."

Inuyasha scuffed Souta's ear. "Well, they might not be now, but trust me, they'll regret it later."

Souta looked at him confused.

"It's an adult thing," Inuyasha said, without any better explanation. "I'd just leave this stuff to the perverts and the weirdos, 'kay Souta? It'll mess with you otherwise."

"O-okay."

With that Inuyasha got up to leave.

"Inuyasha?" asked Souta seriously.

"Yeah?"

"You're still not going to tell Kagome about this, are you?"

"Not a chance," Inuyasha said with a scoff. "This is man stuff."

Souta smiled.

"Wanna go find the cat and play with Tetsaiga?" Inuyasha asked, trying to think of something else to do.

"Yeah!"

"Inuyasha! Souta!" a voice called from downstairs. "It's time for dinner."

There was a long pause.

"Can we do it after dinner?"

"You bet."

Souta smiled and ran past Inuyasha to get to the dinner table. Inuyasha walked slowly behind. He was still trying to get the pictures of nasty women doing nasty things out of his head. He shuddered a little. Just another reason to keep Kagome out of this hellish world.

He eventually did get to the kitchen, everyone else was already seated. He took the last seat between Kagome and her grandfather.

"-and that's why you must never ever try to boil a fish in water gathered from a pond at night when there are-"

"That's so good to know!" said Kagome's mother exuberantly, cutting the old man off.

"Yeah," said Kagome, agreeing. She smiled at Inuyasha.

"Everything looks great mom," Souta said taking a bit of rice.

"Why thank you," Mama said nicely. "Kagome did a lot of it."

Inuyasha looked at her, then at the food on the table. In the feudal era Sango always cooked because Kagome would burn everything to make sure it was "done." Apparently to her "done" meant black and ashy beyond recognition. However, much to Inuyasha's relief there was nothing black, burned, or even the slightest bit ashy.

He shrugged. Would the wonders of this trip never cease?

Grandpa, apparently realizing that no one else was going to have any of him, turned on Inuyasha while the others began to chat.

"So what are your intentions to my sweet Kagome?" Grandpa asked, turning on him without so much as a by-your-leave.

Inuyasha stared at him.

"Intentions?"

"Yes," said the old man, eying him up. "You two have been pussyfooting around each other for a good long time now, it's about time you had some intentions, young man!"

Inuyasha looked towards the food again. It looked like there was some sort of meat. He was hungry. The green stuff looked good too.

"Well?" demanded Grandpa impatiently.

"I guess," Inuyasha started slowly, removing his eyes from one dead piece of meat, to a nearly dead piece of meat, Grandpa. "My intentions are too keep her safe and make sure she has food and stuff."

He gave a little shrug afterward.

Grandpa beamed at him.

"Good answer, my boy," he said all oldish and handing him a flask of something. "Here, drink this. It'll make you a man, put some hair on your chest."

Inuyasha took a sniff.

"Here," he said, handing it back. "I think that this is too strong for me. Plus I already have tons of chest hair, I don't want to look like a monkey or anything."

He was lying out his teeth, but so far in Kagome's little den of inequity her brother had tried to get him to watch loose women and her grandfather had tried to booze him up. Could he handle these people as a human?

"Ah," nodded the old man. "I understand."

He winked at Inuyasha. Inuyasha had no idea what was going on.

"Can you please pass the meat?" he asked Kagome, inching his chair closer to hers.

"Sure," she responded. She handed him the green stuff. He sighed. She was clearly in a very deep conversation with her mother.

"-and I heard Aiko's daughter has finally admitted what we all knew and finally brought home a girl named Asuka to meet the family," Mama told her daughter with a twinkle.

"No!" Kagome said with surprise. "Poor thing, she comes from such an old family that they have to be getting a lot of heat about this."

"I'm sure," said Mama seriously. "I know that Aiko will be alright through all the hurtful gossip though, mother's have a tough skin when it comes to their children."

Kagome nodded in agreement.

"It's not like you can help who you love," Kagome said sympathetically.

"No," Mama said, her eyes flashing to Inuyasha. "You can't, and no matter who you love, the people who care about you should understand and accept them."

Inuyasha wished he didn't feel his ears flattening against his head, or the blood rush to his face. But he did, so he just lowered himself closer to the table and kept eating his green stuff. It wasn't bad.

Kagome did not miss the exchange.

"Do you like the Jello?" she asked Inuyasha.

"Yeah," he said smiling.

"You know, you should probably eat something else," Kagome said, finally gathering up some meat and vegetables and setting them next to his plate. "Jello isn't exactly filling."

He glanced at the food and put some on his plate. Kagome usually got mad when he took it off the table and put it straight into his mouth. He tried to cut it up while Kagome went back to talking with her mother, but it wasn't any use, everything he touched was too slippery. He picked it up with his claws and took a big bite out of it.

It was good.

"Inuyasha!" said Kagome, a look of mock horror and surprise on her face. "You can't eat that like an animal."

"Keh," he said stubbornly. "I tried the knife, wench. It didn't work out for me."

Kagome looked at him like she was trying to solve a puzzle.

"What are you starring at?" he asked seriously. "It's too tasty to play with all night, okay? Somebody already had to make sure it was dead once, cutting it up any more would just be overkill. Literally."

"You think the steak is tasty?" Kagome asked happily.

"Kagome grilled it!" Mama said enthusiastically.

"Wow," Inuyasha said, holding up the meat to inspect it. "It's not even charred."

"Mmm, eating it like Inuyasha is waaaay easier," said Souta as he ripped off a piece of meat with his teeth.

"Souta!" said Kagome.

"It is!" said Mama as she picked up her steak and took off a big bite.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "Do you see what you've started?"

Inuyasha flicked a piece of green Jello at her.

"Damn-straight," he said in complete seriousness. "It's a revolution, wench."

Kagome laughed and picked up her steak.

.~*~._.~*~.

"Well, it's almost sunset," Kagome said from her desk. Inuyasha looked out the window.

"Sure is," he said from the bed were he lay stretched out looking at the ceiling.

"Well," Kagome said again hesitantly. "Do you need to prepare or anything?"

Inuyasha gave her a look.

"How do you reckon I'd go about that, wench?"

Kagome blushed. "I guess I just don't know the mechanics of it all."

Inuyasha just looked away. "It just happens. One minute I'm hanyou, then the next I'm human. It's not like it hurts or there's blood or anything"

Kagome gave him a funny look.

"Just asking," she said in a voice that was just a little too sweet, he could already tell she was up to something.

"Ugh," he grunted. "What could you possibly want me to do now?"

Kagome glared at him.

"I just wanted to know if I could throw your clothes into the wash with Sango and Miroku's."

"What?" Inuyasha asked, perturbed, "and leave me naked, or what?"

Kagome glanced to a bag near the door.

"Mama bought you some clothes to wear..."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he did stink a little. His last encounter with Kouga had left him a little wolf-ripe.

"I guess," he conceded. He knew he was giving in too easy. He just decided somethings just weren't worth the trouble.

Kagome squee'd and went to leave the room.

"Where you going?" he asked.

"I'm giving you privacy to change!" she said turning around, as if it were obvious.

What, he thought to himself, she meant right now?

"Oh," he said. "Thanks, I guess."

Kagome left the room and closed the door behind her.

Inuyasha went over to the bag. It was white and plass-stick. It smelled artificial, but he figured in a little under twenty minutes he probably wouldn't care anyway.

He sighed. He did that a lot lately.

He pulled the first thing out the bag. It was a white top like the one's Souta sometimes wore. Kagome called it a tee shirt.

Well, that wasn't too bad at least.

The second thing he pulled out was another smaller plastic bag. The front read "boxers." Souta had those too. Inuyasha just tossed them on the bed. He would see about those. Kagome complained about the undergarments of the Feudal Era and said they did not give her enough "support," but Inuyasha was pretty sure that he was not going to like those little square hakama at all.

The next think were pants. They were dark blue and kind of a rough fabric. He liked him. The texture seemed sturdy, almost like really thin armor.

There were also shoes and socks in there. Inuyasha just ignored those. No way, he hated those hot bothersome things. He chucked them on the bed next to the underwear.

He put on the shirt first. Then the pants. Then he changed his mind and took the pants off and put the underwear on. Then he put the pants back on. He could not have Kagome thinking it was okay to go running around without undergarments. That skirt was too damn short to begin with, without her discovering how much more wonderful it was without "support." He shuddered. Sometimes one had to lead by example.

But no socks, there he drew the line.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" Kagome asked through the door.

He realized he had been in there awhile.

"Yeah, I'm done."

Kagome opened the door and her eyes got wide when she saw him.

They starred at each other a moment.

"Y-you're human," she stuttered out finally.

"Yeah?" He looked down. Sure enough, he had been so wrapped up in his wardrobe he barely noticed the change. "So are you, wench."

Kagome was still starring.

"Your shirt is on backwards," she said after another moment.

"How do you figure?"

"The tag is sticking out the front."

Inuyasha growled. Well, how in the hell were you supposed to tell? He took his shirt off and whipped it back on correctly almost as fast.

"Inuyasha!" exclaimed Kagome, really blushing now. "You can't just go around stripping!"

Inuyasha shrugged at her. "It's not like you've never seen it before wench."

"Tending your wounds does not count!"

"You call it 'tending wounds'," he teased. "I call it an excuse to see my boooody."

Kagome did not say a word, just looked at the wall like she never even heard him.

Inuyasha smiled and walked over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Hey wench," he said as nicely as he could manage. "I'm just teasing."

She looked at him, and at first she looked mad. Just when he thought maybe he had been a little out of line, she looked down and smiled.

"I know Inuyasha," she looked oddly bashful. Inuyasha though she was cute. She looked back up at him. "You know, you look really handsome when you're in modern clothes."

It was Inuyasha's turn to blush. "You're just saying that because I'm human," he said defensively.

Kagome grabbed his hand. "No," she said. "I'm not."

She smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze. He thought to himself that maybe this was not such a bad idea after all.

"Kagome!" called a voice from downstairs. "There is someone here to see you!"

"I'll be right back," Kagome said and rushed out of her bedroom. Just as well, he thought. That had been a little too close for comfort.

He wandered around her room, just looking at all the odd trinkets she owned. There was a picture of her family on her desk from when she was a little girl and her father had been alive.

He picked it up. She had been beautiful even as a child.

He opened her closet. She had a ton of clothes. He idly wondered why she never wore any of them to the feudal era, there had to be something more practical than her school uniform.

"Hey Inuyasha," said Souta from the hallway. Inuyasha immediately closed her closet door and tried to look innocent.

"Yeah?" Inuyasha asked as her little brother came into the room.

"Are you and Kagome going to go out?"

"No," Inuyasha snorted. "Why?"

"Because Kagome's friends are here and they want her to go out with them, duh," Souta said as he sat down. "I say let her go by herself, we never did get to play with Tetsaiga and Buyo."

"Kagome's friends are here?" Inuyasha asked slowly. How did they know that she had come back? He decided to go downstairs to check it out before they tried to abduct her or something.

"Hey, wait-" Souta called behind him,

"Next time, runt," Inuyasha called back.

When he got downstairs, Kagome was standing at the door and he could hear voices on the outside.

"-aw, come on, Kagome. You never go out. It will be fun! When was the last time you went dancing?"

"Yeah, Yuka's right! Besides, if you come with us we'll be even more inclined to give you the notes from Geometry-"

"I can't guys," Kagome said regretfully. "I already have plans, okay?"

"Oooh," said one of the girls. "Is your two timing boyfriend over?"

Hey, Inuyasha thought. Who exactly did they think was two timing?

"Well-"

"OMG! He totally is, Ayumi's right!"

"He can come too!"

"I really can't," Kagome insisted.

"Come on," said one of the girls. "Can't you just come out with us and be a normal teenager for once?"

Inuyasha wasn't sure if it was the word 'normal' or if he was just wanted to mess with Kagome the way she messed with him, but something about that sentence struck something in him.

Before Kagome had a chance to answer Inuyasha had crossed the room and yanked the door the rest of the way open to look at the girls.

"Hi wenches," he greeted them in front of a shocked Kagome. "We'll go out with you and be normal."

Eri squeeled.

"See Kagome?" Yuka said, pushing her way into the home. "Your boyfriend doesn't mind."

The other two girls followed her in.

Kagome gave Inuyasha a look that quite plainly said 'what-do-you-think-you-are-doing-stupid? He pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear.

"Come on Kagome," he said so only she could hear her. "You always share my world, let me share yours. Don't you want to be a normal girl for a night?"

She turned around and looked at him again. This time Inuyasha could not decide if she was mad at him, or if she was felt bad about something.

Eri, Ayumi and Yuka were already upstairs in Kagome's room.

"Are you two love birds coming?" One of them called from the upstairs.

"Yeah," Kagome shouted back, not even bothering to protest over the love birds bit. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's hand and led him up the stairs.

When they got back into her room, they both were taken aback.

"You're lucky we saw that your room light was on and decided to stop by," said Eri as she held up a blouse up to herself in the mirror.

"Yeah?" asked Kagome nervously. Her room was covered in clothes from her closet.

"It's nice to meet you," Ayumi said, holding out her had. "I'm Ayumi and that's Eri and Yuka."

"I-it's nice to meet you too," Inuyasha said, picking up a pencil off Kagome's desk and putting it into Ayumi's out stretched hand. "I'm Inuyasha."

"That's a funny name," said Yuka as she pulled Kagome away from him and sat her in the desk chair.

"Well," Inuyasha said dumbly, "it's not like I picked it out."

Ayumi was still looking at the pencil Inuyasha put in her hand.

"I like it," she said. "It's different."

"Yeah," said Eri. "Everything about you is a different, Inuyasha. Why did you decide to grow out your hair so long?"

Inuyasha reached up to touch his hair. "It's always been like that."

"It's cool," said Yuka, combing Kagome's hair and trying to put it into some sort of up-do. "It makes you look like a real bad boy."

"Yeah, Kagome," said Eri to with an impish grin on her face. "You didn't tell us your guy was such a stud!"

Stud? Thought Inuyasha desperately. Maybe it had a different meaning in Kagome's time.

"Oh," laughed Kagome nervously. "You know how it is."

"Yeah," said Ayumi shooting the others a glace. "A good girl doesn't kiss and tell."

Kiss? Just what had Kagome told these girls they had done?

"There's not much to tell, anyway," said Kagome, her eyes wide.

The other girls all looked at each other. Then giggled nervously.

"Where do you keep your make-up?" Yuka asked, breaking the moment.

"Uh," said Kagome, not sure she was ready for a complete make-over. "In the bathroom under the sink."

"I'll go get it," said Ayumi said.

"What do you think of this?" Eri asked Yuka, she was holding up a red top.

"Uh, no way," said Yuka, looking pointedly at Inuyasha. "That would be better for a first date or something. We're going out, we want Kagome in something sexy!"

Sexy? Maybe Inuyasha had lied to Souta earlier that day. Maybe women in Kagome's time were lustful crazy hybrids between women and sirens.

"True," conceded Eri. She looked at the closet a minute then pulled something else out. "What is sexier than a little black dress?"

"Ooooh, perfect," said Ayumi from the door. She was holding a box. "Do you own any heels, Kagome?"

Kagome looked at Ayumi a minute, surprised that someone was speaking to her.

"Yes," she said mostly as Ayumi handed Yuka the box of cosmetics.

"Found 'em," Eri said triumphantly as she dug them out of the bottom of her closet on her hands and knees. "They're a little dusty...literally."

"Brush them off, sister," said Yuka as she applied something to Kagome's face. "Inuyasha's going to think he died and met a new woman in heaven."

"I think I'm kind of over dying to be with women," Inuyasha muttered to no one in particular.

"Inuyasha!" exclaimed Eri. "You're so quiet, I almost forgot you were in here. You have to leave! We want you to be surprised by Kagome's splendor! You can't watch her get fixed up, it takes all the magic out of the finished project!"

"I think Kagome looks fine just the way she is," Inuyasha said, watching as Kagome winced when Yuka accidentally poked her in the eye with a stick with a brush on the end.

"Out," said Eri, pushing him from behind. He did not bother to put up a fight and soon he was deposited in the hall where Kagome's door was promptly shut behind him.

He sat down next to the door and leaned against the wall. Here he was, in a strange place with strange clothes and strange people. This was normal for Kagome?

Inuyasha let the back of his head hit the wall. What a day. At least Kagome had gotten mostly caught up with her school work after dinner.

He watched the light under Kagome's door flicker as the people inside moved around. He wished he still was hanyou so he could hear what they were saying.

Or could he?

He got up and pressed his ear against the door. He knew that Miroku and Sango sometimes did that when they knew he and Kagome were alone and they wanted to know what was going on without asking. It was not as good as having super sensitive hearing, but it was okay.

"-spill it, Kagome," Inuyasha recognized the voice as Yuka.

"Yeah," said Eri excitedly. "Have you given him your v-card yet?"

"My what?" asked Kagome.

"Your virginity," Ayumi clarified.

Inuyasha's eyes got wide.

"No!" Kagome exclaimed.

Yuka laughed. "No wonder he's two timing you, then," she said smartly. "He's too good looking to not be sleeping with."

"He is dreamy," said Ayumi wistfully.

"I would never!" Kagome defended.

"Oh please don't tell me your one of the one's waiting for marriage," said Yuka with a tone of disapproval. "That never happens anyway, you'll give up and give it to the next one anyway. Besides, this is the twentieth century. It's cool."

Eri laughed. "Yeah, I don't know if anyone's told you this yet Kagome, but women have needs too."

"Now girls," said Ayumi gently. "No need to pressure poor Kagome."

"Who is pressuring her?" asked Eri defensively. "I'm just educating her to the way of the world, that's all."

"It's not just that," Kagome defended. "Were not exactly official-"

No kidding, Inuyasha thought.

"-and what if I got pregnant or something? I could never have a baby and raise it right at my age."

"Oh, get off it Kagome!" said Yuka with a laugh. "That's what birth control pills are for. Besides, if you slip up and you really don't want to have one you can always-"

"Yuka," Ayumi gently chided.

"Alright fine," Yuka retorted with a girlish giggle. "I'm just saying, if I had a guy like Inuyasha, I'd let him jump my bones whenever he wanted."

"Oh my gosh," said Kagome said, clearly horrified.

With that, Inuyasha made up his mind. He got up off the floor and walked briskly downstairs as fast as he could without running. He had wanted Kagome to have a nice normal night out with her friend, but if this was normal she could kiss her night out good-bye. These girls were insane.

"Souta!" Inuyasha called out, seeing him sitting on the couch, watching the moving picture box. "Where's your mother?"

"In the kitchen," Souta said with a yawn. "Why?"

"Thanks," said Inuyasha without answering.

He marched into the kitchen, and sure enough, there was Kagome's mother sipping tea at the table, reading a book.

"Hey," he said abruptly trying to get her attention.

"Oh, Inuyasha," she said merrily looking up from the object of her attention. "Is something wrong?"

"You need to go save Kagome," he told her seriously. "I can't do it, they're immune to me...or something."

"What do you mean?" Mama asked setting down her tea.

Inuyasha ran a hand through his hair.

"I let Kagome's silly friends in the house and now there upstairs torturing her trying to make her into a woman of ill-repute."

Mama looked at him funny.

"Is she having a good time?" Mama asked delicately. Inuyasha's eyes about bugged out of his head.

"Of course she isn't! This is Kagome we're talking about," he practically yelled. "Now go up there and send them home. She is not going anywhere looking wearing that get-up they've got her in."

Mama smiled and got up.

"I think I understand what you're saying, Inuyasha," Mama said with a smile. "I'll go protect her, okay?"

"Thank-you," Inuyasha said, glad he finally got the point across. He relaxed a little, reinforcements were on their way.

He followed Mama to the bottom of the stairs and listened to make sure she had the situation under control.

"Hello ladies," Mama said as Inuyasha hear her open Kagome's door.

"Hi, Mrs. Higurashi," said one of the girls.

"Inuyasha tells me that you are planing on going out this evening?" Inuyasha was amazed at how cheerful the woman sounded all the time.

"We thought we'd go dancing!" he recognized Yuka's high pitched excitement.

"Oh dear, really?"

"Yes, why?" Ayumi asked, concerned

"No reason for you girls not to go, but I think I'm going to have to insist that Kagome stay here. She's been much too sick to be out in public with so many people."

"Oh! Mrs. Higurashi," exclaimed Eri, clearly disappointed. "Please?"

"I wish I could say yes," Mama lied smoothly, "but we really can't be risking this bout of healthiness Kagome is having."

"We understand completely," said Ayumi sympathetically.

"Now you girls should probably be running along," Mama suggested gently. "I think you've worn poor Kagome out."

"Yes, Mrs. Higurashi," they all said in unison.

Inuyasha walked back to the kitchen. He did not want Yuka or Eri to see him on the way out for fear that they would try to 'jump his bones.' He sat down at the table next to the abandoned tea and book and waited until he heard three sets of feet shuffle out the front door.

Mama was not far behind him.

"Everything's under control now, Inuyasha," she said as she walked back into the kitchen. "Why don't you go upstairs and check on Kagome?"

"Keh," he said as he got up and went to Kagome.

He found her where he left her. She was sitting at her desk still, but now she was in a tight black dress with her hair and make-up done and those ridiculous 'heels' on her feet.

"Hey wench," he said from the doorway. She looked up at him. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Hey Inuyasha'" she whispered.

He cocked his head at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as he walked in and sat on her bed.

"Nothing really," she said as she looked into a little mirror that Yuka had left out. "I'm just wondering when I fell so out of place here."

Inuyasha did not know what to say, so he chose to say nothing.

"I guess maybe I'm just naive," she said softly.

"Keh," Inuyasha mumbled. "I don't think you're the naive one, Kagome."

Kagome turned around and looked at him. He starred at her a minute before he made up his mind.

"I was listening at the door when your friends were talking to you," he admitted. "I heard what you were talking about."

Kagome was instantly redder than his fire rat haori.

"I-"

"I know," he said gently before she had a chance to finish.

She looked at him funny.

"Those girls have got it all wrong anyway," he told her as gently as he could. "Men don't want women who don't have any self-respect. Not even Miroku."

Kagome laughed a little at that.

"I know," she said again, looking at the floor.

"Good," he said, getting up from the bed. He grabbed a tissue from her bed-side table and knelt down beside her and started to wipe all the stuff on her face.

"Do you think I'm pretty, Inuyasha?" she asked as he licked the edge of the tissue to get some particularly stubborn black stuff next to her eye.

"You're not too hard on the eyes, I guess."

Kagome laughed.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"And I hope you know as soon as you take off that dress, I'm shredding it," he told her plainly. "If you ever went out in that I'm not even sure I could protect you from all the throngs of men who would try to get at you."

She snorted at him. It was cute.

"-and while we're at it," he said, figuring if he could make her laugh again at least maybe she would stop crying, "let's talk about how short that green skirt of yours is-"

Before he could finish Kagome had dropped down off the chair and was hugging him so tight it hurt his ribs.

"Thank-you, Inuyasha, for everything."

He was startled at first, then he relaxed and put an arm around her.

"Anytime, wench."

.~*~._.~*~.

The night had not gone too badly after all. They had ended up playing board games with the rest of Kagome's family. Inuyasha had gotten a little too into it and they had to stop after he got so excited that one of the neighbors called to complain about the yelling. Mama had told them it was probably a good time to go to bed anyway.

So, there they were. Inuyasha was on the floor and Kagome was in the bed and he was not sure if she was sleeping, but he was just a little too out of place to just doze off.

"Wench?" he asked quietly, not loud enough to wake her up if she was not already.

"Yes?" she answered back.

"This is weird," he told her. "I miss my tree."

Kagome laughed.

"What, do I stink or something?" she teased.

"No more than usual," he teased back.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I made you come here on the new moon when you didn't really want to," he could hear by her voice that she really was sorry.

"Don't worry about it," he said, trying to reassure her. "It could have been way worse."

"...how?"

"We could all be dead because I wasn't able to protect anybody with this weak, useless body," he said with a little disdain.

Kagome say up and looked down at him.

"You protected me," she said almost to low for him to hear.

He snorted.

"I don't know if fetching your mother to throw out a gaggle of crazy girls counts."

Kagome reached down and pulled on his hand.

"It counts especially," she told him as she continued to pull. "Sometimes the scariest enemy is the one best disguised."

"Keh," he said as she yanked on him a little harder. "What are you doing, wench?"

She stopped.

"I'm trying to get you to come up on to the bed where it's comfortable," she said shyly after a moment of silence. He could feel his eyebrows disappear in his hairline.

"By ripping my arm off?" he asked incredulously. Every other thought seemed to leave his mind.

She swatted him. "Please?"

He sighed and sat up.

"You know, Kagome," he said, making sure they were still on the same page. "I meant what I said earlier...I'm not looking for-"

"I don't want to do anything inappropriate," Kagome quickly interrupted his thought. "I just want you near, and maybe this way you can get comfortable and get some rest."

The logical part of his brain told him he would keep himself on the floor if he knew what was good for him. The irrational part of his brain told him to get into the bed before Kagome changed her mind.

He decided he was never really very rational before, he certainly was not about to start now.

Kagome lifted up the covers and he stood up. He slid beneath them and was quickly surprised by how small Kagome's bed was.

If Kagome minded how small the bed was, she certainly was not telling him. She snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his chest. He looked down at the top of her head. She was being rather bold, not that he was complaining or anything.

"We can probably do this again next month, if you want," Inuyasha said after a long time had passed, realizing she still awake. "It beats hiding in a hut or cave somewhere."

Kagome looked up at him and smiled.

"I'd like that."

Inuyasha, without thinking, reached out and started playing with her hair. When she did not complain he kept going.

"Mmmm," she said. "Thanks."

"Keh."

They lay there like that a while longer, Inuyasha was happy to just exist. Kagome was warm against him, and her bed was comfortable. He could feel her smaller body pressed up against him and smiled to himself. She was so young. He felt a hundred years older than her...which might not be too far from the truth if he counted the years he was pinned to that tree.

But that made him think about Sesshomaru and Rin, so he nipped that little thought in the bud and concentrated on feeling whole next to her.

"What are you thinking about?" Kagome asked after a long while.

"You," he answered without thinking. He could feel Kagome tense and instantly regretted it.

"I think about you sometimes, too," she whispered into his chest.

"Yeah?"

She nodded.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked as she sat up a little on one arm.

"I guess," he said, curious as to why she pulled away.

"It's kind of personal," she admitted to him bashfully.

"Okay," Inuyasha said, wondering what it could be.

There was another pause as Inuyasha waited for Kagome to ask.

"I guess...well. I guess I was just wondering if you'd kissed a lot of girls?"

He suddenly realized why she had sat up. It was defiantly giving her a tactical advantage.

"Just the one," he told her, looking her in the eyes,"just Kikyo."

"Oh," she said as she started to lay back down.

"What about you?" he asked, just to break the silence.

"I've never kissed a girl."

He rolled his eyes, if she wanted to be that way, then fine. He figured he probably knew the answer anyway. He just was not sure what territory they were in right now.

"...and I've never kissed a boy either," Kagome volunteered, realizing he was not about to ask twice.

He pulled her close.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Kagome."

"I know," she said quietly. "I don't want to kiss just any dirty old boy anyway."

He chuckled.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I definitely hope you wait for a clean young one to come along."

Silence filled the room. He knew what she was asking, but he was not ready for this. He had no idea what it would mean and he knew he was not prepared to make any commitment to her. It would not be right to lead her on.

Then she did it.

"...would you consider kissing me?" Kagome asked it so softly he thought for a minute that he dreamed it.

Inuyasha never expected her to ask. Not in a million years. However, unless his ears were playing tricks on him, she just did.

"Kagome," he said sitting up and looking at her. The vulnerable look on her face made his heart drop. By the way her eyes widened he could tell she already knew his answer.

"I'm sorry I asked," she said quickly as her whole body dropped like a dead weight to the bed and she turned to face the wall.

He closed his eyes. He knew this night was a bad idea. He curled up behind her and put an arm around her.

"It's not you, okay?" he whispered into her ear. "You deserve better than this, Kagome. Someday you're going to get your first kiss from a guy when you least expect it. He's gonna surprise you and you'll get these weird flutters in your stomach and it's going to be so wonderful you're not even going to believe it's actually happening."

She did not respond.

"You don't really want your first kiss to be in the middle of the night from a hanyou who didn't even have the courage to do it without being asked. You're worth more than that."

He could tell by the way her body shuddered that she had stated to cry and that she was trying to hide it. He felt so ashamed of himself. He starred into the darkness, wishing it would eat him

Kagome let out the most subtle of whimpers. It was heartbreaking.

That is when it occurred him out of nowhere... it was never his choice. He would never choose this for her. Not him. Not now. Not her first time. But it was never his to choose...and he really wanted to kiss her.

He paused, really thinking about it.

"Oh hell," he said after almost no time at all. "I'm sorry, Kagome."

He reached over and pulled her back toward him and looked into her beautiful watery brown eyes. He loved those eyes. She looked at him, frightened but not scared.

"Inuyasha?" she asked. He furrowed his brow.

Then it happened.

He leaned down and put his lips against hers as gingerly as possible. Her lips were soft and salty from tears. He reached behind her and pulled her head a little closer.

It took a minute for Kagome to respond, at first she froze. Then, just when he thought maybe he had made a mistake, she kissed him back. It was tentative and unsure, but she was definitely responding. He moved his hand from the back of her head and down her back to give her a little encouraging squeeze.

It was over too soon, and yet it lasted forever.

Eventually he pulled away, but he pressed his forehead against hers.

"Was that okay?" he asked, looking deep into her eyes. He was searching for signs of regret or hurt. He didn't see any.

Kagome smiled.

"It was perfect."

"Keh," he said softly back to her. "It was pretty good, wasn't it wench?"

She looked down into her bed shyly.

"Don't get bashful on me now," he told her sternly as he lay back down. "It's okay. I wanted to, too."

He could practically feel the heat of embarrassment coming off her. He just closed his eyes and pulled her down next to him.

"Go to sleep wench," he told her as he started to play with her hair again. "I'll still be here in the morning."

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Maybe this had not been the worst idea Kagome had ever had after all. He guessed they would find out in the morning.

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A/N – How was that for my introduction into Inuyasha fanfiction? I had fun writing it! I had been running this through my head for awhile, it was nice to finally get this brain-child on paper.

Hopefully I got out all the grammar usage and mechanic nasties. Sometimes I just get to typing so fast I have no idea what is actually going from the keyboard to the monitor. Just one of the perks of getting lost in the moment I guess. I need a beta. *sigh*

Well, thanks for reading! I'd really love a review if you have time. Constructive criticism is very appreciated, the whole point of me writing fanfiction is to become a better fiction writer.

~Azulia

P.S. I think I have one more one-shot on the way, then I'm going to write a novel length InuKag, so if you like my writing, stay tuned!


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